A decision by Armier boathouse owners to drop their appeal of a 2013 court ruling was not agreed with the government, Deborah Schembri said.
The Land Parliamentary Secretary told this newspaper the decision by Armier Developments Ltd, a company formed by the owners, to drop the appeal “does not form part of any agreement”.
Four years ago, the court ordered the removal of 12 illegal, makeshift caravans built illegally on the Armier foreshore.
The ruling was hailed a landmark judgment by environmentalist lobbies, but the company appealed the decision.
However, last month, the lawyers representing the company informed the court their client was abandoning the appeal.
The abrupt decision to end the appeal fuelled speculation in some quarters that it may have been part of a wider agreement with the government to regularise the illegal boathouses.
But Dr Schembri has now put paid to this speculation.
Tarcisio Barbara, a representative of Armier Developments, would not comment when asked why the appeal was dropped.
He had the same reaction when asked whether it formed part of any deal with the government and whether talks to regularise the situation of boathouse owners were continuing.
Dr Schembri’s predecessors, Michael Farrugia and Michael Falzon, engaged with the Armier boathouse owners in a bid to regularise the shantytown. Progress on those talks has been slow, especially after Dr Falzon’s resignation in January of last year.
Asked whether she had met the boathouse owners, Dr Schembri admitted having had one meeting last year. Dr Schembri said the boathouse owners were asking for a follow-up meeting.
“During this meeting they basically discussed their wishes. No type of regularisation was discussed,” the parliamentary secretary said.
There are some 800 boathouses at Armier, all built illegally on public land.
The owners have for years been trying to secure some form of agreement with the government in a bid to regularise their position.
Talks that started with the Labour government soon after the 2013 election focused on sanctioning, subject to certain conditions, including the removal of the boathouses built after 1992 and those situated close to ruins and on the foreshore.
The government also discussed a fine and rental fee as compensation for the illegal encroachment on government land.
The draft agreement under discussion was described by sources in 2014 as being “pretty much in line” with agreements that the boathouse owners had been negotiating with the previous administration.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com